Ten Questions with Kyle Phillips

DENVER  The El Capitan High product, called up May 6 when Nick Hundley went on the DL, talks minor league promotions, Jennifer Aniston and being told he was too fat.

Q: Highlight of your career at El Cap?

A: Getting drafted as senior in the 10th round by the Twins.

Q: Where were you when you found out?

A: I was Economics. My dad stayed home from work. He and my mom were watching the computer. I got a phone call on my cell and immediately jumped up, walked out of the class and the teacher looked at me like, ‘What’s going on?’ I grabbed my phone, went outside, took the call, heard the news and started getting choked up.”

Q: Best minor league promotion you’ve seen?

A: Sammy Sosa Cork Night. It was in Fort Myers, Fla. If you brought a cork or a corked bat you got in for free.

Q: You’re 27. You’ve been released twice and played 722 games in the minors league and only five in the majors before this season. What has kept you plugging away?

A: At some stage in my career it got to the point where (I said), ‘I’ve got to do this for me.’ Because so many people have told me I’m not going to make it. Coming out of high school they said, ‘You’re too chubby. You’re too slow. You don’t have a position. You’re never going to catch in the big leagues. You don’t have enough arm strength.’ It was sort of like prove to myself that I could do it, but more so prove to everybody else that I wasn’t going to give up trying to do it.”

Q: Your older brother Jason, who’s now out of baseball, played parts of seven seasons in the majors. Did you grow up idolizing him?

A: He was somebody I always looked up to. He was the first one to sign as a professional and come up through the minors. He was a big influence on me. At a young age my dad got pretty sick and we weren’t sure he was going to pull through. (Kyle’s father battled Hyper thyroidism but is now on medication and doing well.) My brother stepped in and became not only the father figure, but someone who was going to take care of me on a day- to-day basis. Make sure I was doing my school work. Not only did he help me on the field but off the field, too.

Q: Favorite baseball movie?

A: I’d say “Major League.” It’s so true. The superstitions of guys. You have that wild teammate that’ll just say and do anything. And somebody’s always chasing a girl.

Q: Beer or wine?

A: Beer. Bud Lite or Corona. Pretty Plain Jane. Hey, I’m a catcher.

Q: You can invite any four people to dinner. Who’d it be?

A: Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, Charles Barkley and Jennifer Aniston. Barkley’s hilarious. Anytime I listen to him, he cracks me up. I would throw in Tiger Woods, but I’m afraid he’d get in the way of me talking to Jennifer.

Q: You used to sell cars in the offseason. What do you drive?

A: A Cadillac SRX.

Q: What’s your dream car?

A: A 1959 El Dorado Biarritz. It just screams elegance. Anybody can drive a Ferrari. But there’s nothing like a classic car.